How can a brand new map start out perfectly and crisply folded, but after 5 minutes with me, come to resemble an origami bowling ball? I’m embarrassed to admit that I have a love/hate relationship with maps. I’ve always found maps fascinating. As a kid, I used to pore through the Rand McNally World Atlas. Later, as an adult driver, I relied on road maps to get me from Point A more or less to Point B. Despite my fondness for cartography, I don’t actually read maps very well. Even though I studied map reading in the Marines, it was always a struggle. One night, my map reading challenges landed my team at a summer camp with Kristy McNichol and Tatum O’Neal. Oh wait. That was Little Darlings. I guess you’ll just have to trust me when I say that maps and I don’t always get along.
Fortunately for me, maps are largely a thing of the past. Don’t get me wrong – I travel frequently, and I still need plenty of help getting around. Today, that help usually comes from a GPS unit. That’s right – the fancy global positioning technology that was once the exclusive toy for military types now comes standard with my rental car. For me, the GPS has become an indispensible sidekick on my road trips. I punch in my address or a local attraction, and off I go. The GPS tells me when to turn and how much longer the trip will take. (Although I’ve still been know to ask it, “Are we there yet?”)
On a recent trip, I stopped (figuratively) to marvel at how implicitly I trust my GPS. Think about how ridiculous the whole process really is. I enter my destination into a computer that sits on top of my dashboard. Then, for the next 30 minutes, I proceed to do whatever the electronic voice tells me. “Turn right in 200 feet.” Okay. I’ll turn right. “Stay in left lane.” Okay. I’ll stay left. “Call your mother.” What? Now? Okay. I guess I’ll call mom. I’d sure hate to get lost just because I didn’t follow instructions.
What gives that tiny little GPS such power? In reflecting on this, I found that the things that make the GPS such a brilliant invention are the very same things that help us achieve important life goals. (Who knew?) Assuming that you’re not reading this while driving, take a minute to check this out.
Navigation by GPS requires the following elements:
- A destination. The GPS doesn’t really do aimless wandering. The best it can do in that situation is simply show you where you are “in the moment”. Don’t get me wrong, this ability is important, especially since it’s fun to wander about every once in awhile. But most car trips are goal-oriented. More often than not, your driving is intended to get you somewhere specific. The GPS knows where you’re trying to go and it holds that destination in its computer brain. It’s obsessed with getting you to where you want to go, and it never loses sight of that destination.
- A step-by-step plan. In the first few seconds after you punch in your destination, the GPS goes to work. “Calculating route” in GPS-speak is the same as developing a step-by-step action plan for an important personal goal. (Without the “Most use of freeways” option.) Without a winning plan, the GPS would be worthless. Likewise, without a winning plan even the most motivating and wonderful life goals are left to chance.
- A built in feedback mechanism. The GPS constantly detects where you are in your journey, and it updates you on what to do next. This “detect and select” feedback mechanism is critical in a dynamic situation like driving to Mount Rushmore. Your personal goal pursuits are every bit as dynamic, but where does the feedback come from? You have a number of available options ranging from a professional coach, to a trusted friend, to yourself (so long as you have self-awareness and you’re able to take a moment to reflect on your lire situation). Without the requisite feedback, your progress may come to a screeching halt.
- The ability to be flexible. Despite our best attempts to stay on course, we may take a detour from time to time. My road trips are like this. I may start out following instructions, but if I see an art store off the highway that’s running a special on “Dogs Playing Poker” on black velvet, you know I’m pulling off at the next offramp. Once I do, the GPS dutifully goes with the flow. The voice responds, “Recalculating route” and a new plan is developed. No panic. No judgmental sigh. (“There he goes again. Dumbass.”) Just an “OK, here’s what we’re going to do now.”
All of these key elements have a direct corollary in the world of personal achievement. If you’re like most people, you may have only a fuzzy sense of where you’re headed. If so, tighten it up. Write down a specific goal (even an easy one if you haven’t done so in awhile) and lock onto it. Maybe you haven’t thought about a specific plan to make your goal a reality. Why not start now? Work backwards from the destination if that helps. Even a high-level plan will serve as a useful guide. You may not have a way to get feedback on your progress. Consider hiring a coach. If that’s too big of a commitment, rope a friend into your master plan. Ask them to take an active interest in your progress and tell them it’s okay to be tough on you. Your goals are too important for niceities! Finally, you may not feel like things have gone exactly as you planned. If that’s the case, adapt and improvise. Just as there are no fewer than 1,000,000 ways to get to any destination on a road trip, there’s no “one way” to achieve your goal. If you’ve ended up off course, pick a new plan and get started again.
So there you have it. My little GPS unit did more than get me back to the airport on time this week. It offered me a new way of thinking about the key elements of goal achievement in our lives, and I hope you’ve enjoyed those insights.
Now if it could just re-fold the wadded up map in the backseat of my rental car, I’d be all set.
Related Links
Garmin explains how GPS works
Fruit phone with onboard GPS
Summer fun, 1980s style
Quotes of the Week
"Greatness is not in where we
stand, but in what direction we are moving. We must
sail sometimes with the wind and sometimes against
it — but sail we must and not drift, nor lie at
anchor."
– Oliver Wendell Holmes
"I have learned, that if one
advances confidently in the direction of his dreams,
and endeavors to live the life he has imagined, he will
meet with a success unexpected in common
hours."
– Henry David Thoreau